


Life Is Unfair

by kimikalX



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Canon Typical Violence, Depression, Eventual Shuake, HEAVY royal spoilers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Skip the summary to avoid spoilers, goro akechi survives, joker has a palace, post third semester, the comfort comes in the end, there will be a lot of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24838351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimikalX/pseuds/kimikalX
Summary: After the events that took place in Maruki's Palace, Akira has to accept life as it is prior to Maruki's Actualization. Life in juvie isn't easy, and he's stuck thinking about absolutely anything and everything. Unfortunately, that included the miserable lives that he and his friends now had to go back to. He couldn't help but have doubts about his decisions.He was the one who snapped his friends out of Maruki's Reality, he had to lose Akechi all over again, and he had no more Metaverse to find purpose in.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Shuake - Relationship, akeshu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	Life Is Unfair

**Author's Note:**

> Hi ShuAke nation!!! This is my first Persona 5 fic and one that's been rolling in my head for quite a while now. I have so many ideas that I want to make a reality. But I won't be approaching Maruki for help on that front. 
> 
> I'm still in the process of putting this whole thing together and I put out the first chapter in the hopes that I'd get some constructive feedback soon so I know how to proceed with the story. Comments will be greatly appreciated!

“Checkmate.”

Akira--no, Joker said as he shot Adam Kadmon in the face. This whole twisted paradise situation had been such an ordeal for him and his teammates. Takuto Maruki wasn’t an inherently bad person. All he truly wanted was for people to be rid of their emotional pain. Something he couldn’t do for himself.

That didn’t mean that Joker didn’t resent him though. He had so many reasons to appreciate and hate the man. Maruki had given them all a chance at happiness. A fresh start at a pain-free life even though it was fake. Did he think it was a good idea? Maybe? Maybe he thought “Oh, we can live in a world without suffering? That sounds great!” But he knew he couldn’t just invalidate all the challenges his friends had to endure. _That_ wouldn’t be fair.

A very battered Maruki knelt on the broken pavement of what used to be a skyway. A large crack on his golden mask can be seen from their distance. His face had the look of defeat and surrender. Then something glowing floated down near the Phantom Thieves. 

_Maruki’s Treasure._

Morgana took it and put it in his belt pocket. Everything was happening so slowly, yet so quickly at the same time. The already broken pavement started to shatter further. The pillars holding up the skyway started to crumble. Everything around them began to break apart.

They knew they had to get out of there. But how? All the roads to safety were broken, blocked, or both. Morgana rushed everyone inside his bus form. And wished with all his might, that he’d turn into something that could fly them to safety.

The sound of rapid-moving blades echoed in the air. The sensation of being suspended hit everyone like a truck. Besides the fact that everyone had been cramped in that very small space, it was indeed a blessing that Morgana had turned himself into a helicopter.

“Wait! Where’s Joker?!” Haru yelled.

“Don’t worry!” Morgana spoke through the helicopter speakers.

The Thieves looked down and saw Joker holding onto a rope that Morgana had let down. A breath of relief collectively left them as they made their way to safety. But that breath was cut short when something halted their progress and started bringing them closer to the ground.

Joker turned and saw that one of those tentacle-like things had stabbed the Mona-copter and was pulling the team down.

_No._

They had been through too much already for them to be brought down. He saw Maruki on a glass pavement below grinning as he continued to bring the Mona-copter down to the ground. With a final glance up to the team, as much as he could see, at least, he let go of the rope.

He rolled onto the ground to break the shock impact on his body and turned to face Maruki. Then his mask faded away. A part of him broke a bit, at that.

That mask had been one of the few things that made him feel special. More than just some criminal living in an attic. Even though it was a false accusation, labels were never far from his ears. Everyone had given him a hard time at some point due to his record. Reduced to nothing but a label. That mask made him feel like he _could_ be something more.

He looked at Maruki. He looked tired. But he clearly still had _some_ strength. He used it to make a one last ditch attempt at trying to put back together his work.

Joker could tell it was a pride thing. And heabsolutely hated it. He could have been spending these last few moments of the Metaverse’s existence with Akechi. Someone who had been fighting this whole time to make his own path even if it meant disappearing. Rage and bitterness started to fill Joker’s heart as he recalled why Akechi was like this in the first place. 

_Shido._ Joker hadn’t been this angry at a person since Kamoshida.

That sorry excuse for a politician had abused so much of his power and toyed with Akechi his whole life. He made a mockery of Akechi’s life and was planning to dispose of him once he was no longer useful.

With every punch Joker threw at Maruki, he remembered how he’d have to lose Akechi _again_ once all this was over.

Life really was unfair.

* * *

Akira woke up in a cell. He didn’t recognize anything in it, though. The walls were a bleak gray. His prison attire wasn’t striped, instead he was wearing his pajamas. He had no chains on his limbs but they felt just as heavy as he tried to get up on the thin mattress. He began to wonder why he was in juvie in the first place.

Oh. _Right._

Christmas Eve. Sae approached him and asked him to turn himself in. The only way to prosecute Masayoshi Shido was to get a testimony from the perpetrator of the mental shutdowns. It should have been Akechi. But since this was the true reality, Akechi couldn’t come to turn himself in instead.

A lump formed in Akira’s throat as the realization dawned on him.

He began to doubt, perhaps even regret the decisions he’d made in Maruki’s Reality. Did he really make the right choice? He knew what he did was for everyone’s benefit in the long run. All of his friends were given their original lives back. 

Ryuji was a delinquent with a penchant for causing trouble at school. Having trouble finding ways to help his mother out with tuition fees and looking for a college that would even consider him.

Ann was an outcast. Her best friend had to transfer out of Shujin Academy to restart her high school life without labels. Ann understood that but that didn’t mean she was happy about it. She loved spending time with Shiho. They were the only people that really understood each other. Especially with what happened during Kamoshida’s reign.

Yusuke was living alone in the Kosei High dorms. Trying to put together a new masterpiece and sell it at the next exhibit. However, Yusuke absolutely abhorred the idea of making art for the purpose of money. The very thought made him grimace. But he had to feed himself somehow. Yusuke was alone, in a slump, without anyone supporting him.

Makoto was still living with Sae. Who is still too busy to spend any quality family time with her. It’s not that she was prioritizing her work over Makoto. That was just how demanding her job was. Makoto was trying to do her part by performing in her academics to ensure her acceptance to a good college. It wasn’t an easy life after their father died.

Akira felt the worst for Futaba. She was getting used to life without her mother _again_. She had gone through the most drastic change due to the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death, and Maruki nearly undid all of that by bringing Wakaba back.

Haru was trying to carry the weight of her father’s company on her shoulders. His untimely death really took a toll on her. Besides grieving for a father that tried to sell her off, she had to handle the stresses of shares and stocks. All sorts of things that she, a high schooler, knew little to nothing about. And this was on top of people trying to take advantage of this very fact.

Morgana was a fucking cat again. His relationship with Akira and the Phantom Thieves started because he wanted to become human. He got _exactly_ what he wanted and he had to let it go.

Sumire was one of the people Akira thought might handle this the best. She’d come to accept the true reality on her own without having to go back and forth like the rest of the team.

And of course, there was Akechi. Who he’d have to grieve for all over again. The events that transpired in the engine room would definitely continue to plague Akira’s nightmares. All he wanted was for Akechi to open up and let himself be cared for by someone. Akira was embarrassingly eager to be that person.

_“If only we had met a few years earlier. Perhaps things would’ve been different. We would’ve been great rivals. Perhaps even friends.”_

Akira blinks a few tears away from his face. 

_Everybody is suffering here._

The weight of his past decisions weighing like a ton on him.

A voice snaps him out of his train of thought. Instead of hearing the barking of certain little girls or the calming voice of another, he hears the voice of a man.

“Dinner’s here.”

He looked to the big metal door and saw a tray pushed in the bottom opening from the outside.

“It’s mushroom soup and green tea. We should probably change that soon. It won’t be this freezing for very long anymore.” The man chuckled.

Akira didn’t really feel compelled to laugh along. He muttered a soft “Thank you.” as he reached for the tray.

“What date is it?” He asked. No harm in making sure. “Is that how old the food is getting? It’s February 3rd. You’ve been here for over a month now.” The man garbled.

Akira sat on his bed and began to eat the soup and drink the tea. Thoughts about his friends overwhelm him again.

If this was the right decision, why does he feel so empty?


End file.
